Originally Posted by
eliteblood
My involvement in the industry these days is almost entirely as a breeder. It is a tough game with steeply increasing costs, especially service fees, a multitude of things that can go wrong and feeding into a contracting racing industry. I do believe, however, that the authorities have been outstanding in their support of the breeding industry in recent years and there are many incentives already in place to encourage and support breeders.
Just looking at the example of a NSW bred horse, the breeder is eligible for a $3000 bonus for the first 2YO win, another $3000 for the first 3YO win, 5% of any Breeders Challenge prizemoney that the horse wins and 10% of the total prizemoney for any Group 1 win throughout Australia as a 2YO, 3YO or 4YO.
In the case of owner / breeders, they will also get a $3000 bonus for the first 2YO win, another $3000 for the first 3YO win (potentially $12,000 in bonuses if you breed and own a horse that wins one race as a 2YO and one race as a 3YO).
A substantial increase in the import fees on NZ bred horses is another action taken by authorities that helps to prop up the Australian breeding industry.
In my opinion, the viability of the breeding industry is ultimately dependent upon the health of the rest of the sport. I think the biggest challenge for harness racing is to attract more owners. Improve the reward to owners, (not just financially but also in terms of excitement and overall enjoyment, etc.), and benefits will automatically flow through to breeders, trainers, etc.